TV director names attacker

MANILA, Philippines -  Television director Ricardo Rivero’s Facebook friend was charged with frustrated robbery and homicide yesterday after Rivero identified him as the man who stabbed him 17 times in his house in Quezon City.

Hans Ivan Ruiz, 22, was charged before the city fiscal, said Superintendent Crisostomo Mendoza, commander of the Quezon City Police District Station 10.

Despite Ruiz’s denial, Rivero maintained the suspect was the one who attacked him in his house in Barangay Pinyahan before dawn Monday.

Rivero remains confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Police found Rivero’s laptop computer, two cell phones and a pair of shoes in Ruiz’s possession after Rivero drove himself to the hospital and left Ruiz behind in the house.

Ruiz claimed he was awakened by Rivero’s shouts, but he did not see who stabbed the director. According to Ruiz, Rivero befriended him early this year through the social networking site Facebook.

Ruiz expressed readiness to undergo a drug test, responding to insinuations that he could be on drugs. Mendoza said the test was not mandatory since the offenses are not drug-related.